The TITG board of directors have spent the summer revising our bylaws. The purpose of these revisions is to provide a comprehensive update to our existing bylaws, which have remained unchanged for over two decades.

A lot has changed in two decades – technology, audience behavior, and availability of volunteers to run the organization. For us to not only survive, but to thrive, we need to update the way that we do business. We need to be more nimble, make decisions faster, and leverage technology when we can. The pandemic has also accelerated change for us, as it has for everyone else.

One paramount consideration guiding these proposed changes is the well-being of our dedicated board members. Recognizing the substantial volunteer commitment that each of them dedicates to our organization, we are focused on restructuring the board in a manner that maximizes the utilization of their time. Our ultimate aim is to foster an environment that minimizes burnout and ensures that their contributions remain sustainable and fulfilling. We’re also adding common language that many other non-profits have in their bylaws but have been absent in ours. We reviewed bylaws from other community theatres and non-profits.

To summarize the changes at a high level:

• Reduce board member commitment from 3 years to 2 years
• Change the board structure from an active board, where each member has a designated duty like ‘business manager, production manager’ or ‘technical manager’ to a leadership team of officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer) along with other board members who serve to provide the organization with their unique skills and expertise, and advise on organizational strategy. Duties previously held by board members would then be open to volunteers that need not be on the board where we may be able to offer a stipend.
• Require an annual budget be established and specify minimum fiscal policies
• We raised the membership rate from $20 to $30 (this has remained the same for over 2 decades). The number of volunteer hours remains the same at 10 to be considered a member.

I invite each and every one of you to carefully review the new proposed bylaws. The current 2002 bylaws are here. The proposed new 2023 bylaws are here. Your thoughtful input and insights are of great importance to us, as we value your expertise and collective wisdom. Please send written feedback to bylaws@theatreinthegrove.org before August 25, 2023 which is the date of the board meeting where we will discuss and vote on the changes. Per Article VI, Section 1 of our 2002 bylaws, we provided our membership 30 days of notice of our intent to amend them.